The Glorious Gandillon Opera House
by MyDogAteMyPenname
Summary: The Baudelaire Children are taken to their Aunt Marguerite, the ballet Mistress at the Opera House. There, they meet Sophia, the spunky assistant, who would just dance than be groomed into a Prima Whatever. Will they finally escape Olaf? (Eventual KBOC)
1. M a r g u e r i t e and S o p h i a

Disclaimer: insert something clever about not owning ASOUE

A/N: Just something I've written at about one in the morning. Should I keep going with it? Please review, you darlings! Constructive criticism is highly appreciated! But, I'll still give you a cookie if you review!

The Baudelaire orphans were in the back of Mr. Poe's car again.

As usual, Sunny was between her brother and sister, but in this instance, she was feeling a bit squeezed in. Sunny _had_ grown much, and was nearing third and a half birthday. Not that the Baudelaires celebrated half birthdays, but Sunny felt she needed a little thing to look forward to this coming January.

Klaus's head flopped to one side as he started to doze off. Sunny muttered, "Geroeuf!" which probably meant, "Get off my head, you silly boy!"

"Quiet you," Violet scolded. "We were up all night, remember? Trying to catch the train with Mr. Poe?"

"Psssssh!" Sunny said indignantly.

"We're here!" Mr. Poe said brightly, pulling in front of an elegant theatre.

Klaus snorted as the car pulled to a stop. Sunny giggled. Violet was intrigued…. by the theatre. Not Klaus's snorting. "Where are we?" the middle Baudelaire asked sleepily.

"You are staying in the Glorious Gandillon Opera House with your aunt, Marguerite Laurent, the ballet mistress." Mr. Poe said as he opened the car door for them.

Violet stepped out, Sunny in tow, Klaus after them. "I believe Mother mentioned an Aunt Marguerite once or twice. This may be the only guardian we've had that was actually related to us!" Violet said as they entered the ornate lobby.

Sunny stared, then laughed at one golden cherub stature she had come face to face with.

Klaus picked up his little sister, observing the place. "Yes," he replied, "She was mother's cousin who no one really knew the whereabouts of."

"Mr. Poe?" Violet asked as she sat on a cushy velvet settee.

"Um, yes?" he replied, shutting his pocket watch.

"Why is it now that we're being shipped to someone we're actually related to?"

Poe opened his mouth to answer, but as soon as he opened his pocket watch once more, he uttered a few good byes and good lucks and dashed out the door in a hurry.

As swiftly as Mr. Poe had left, a stern-looking woman stepped in holding a cane in one hand, closely followed by a meek girl in her ballet rehearsal outfit, her hands folded neatly on top of her skirt. The woman had a strict brown bun, her piercing eyes like eagles. The girl's hair was jet black, wavy and hanging loose at her shoulders, her eyes still to the floor.

"Violet, Klaus, and Sunny, I presume?" she began, her voice sharp. The petite girl looked up briefly and winked at the three, before averting her gaze again. "I am your Aunt Marguerite. Welcome to the opera house. My assistant, Sophia, will lead you to your rooms. You will be staying in the other wing of the house dormitories. My room is across from yours. I shall give you a proper welcome when this rehearsal is finished." With that, she exited the lobby through the large wooden doors.

"Don't worry about Mam'selle Marguerite. She'll warm up a bit later," Sophia said with a kind smile, taking one bag from Violet's arms. "I'm Sophia Marie Pickford. I'm not sure if I'm the Prima Ballerina in training, or the Prima Donna in training." She shrugged, walking briskly up the stairs. "Mam'selle's been grooming me for both, I guess. I don't think I'm very good at singing, but the vocal teacher Senor Fortunado says I have some potential if I actually paid attention to what he said during lessons." Sophia smirked.

Violet blinked as she followed the girl up the stairs, wondering how so many words could come out of a person's mouth during such a short period of time. "Oh, um, that's very nice, I guess," she replied, unsure of what to say next.

Sunny eyed the chatty girl warily. She didn't like how she talked too much. She found it a bit suspicious and muttered something under her breath as Klaus carried her. "That's not very nice!" he muttered. "She probably isn't covering up anything. And, she's too pretty to be Olaf, that's for sure." Sunny giggled. "I didn't mean it that way! I was just-"

"Here we are!" Sophia said with a grin, opening the first door with a flourish. "This is where Violet and Sunny will stay!" The two girls stepped into the room, looking it over. It was rather nice. The curtains were a mauve color with blue flower print sprinkled all over it. They both had nice brass beds with sheets that matched the curtains. The wallpaper had pictures of ballet shoes and ballerinas dancing around. It wasn't much, but both seemed satisfied. Violet gave Sophia smile and started unpacking.

"You, follow me," Sophia said, pointing at Klaus, who had picked up his suitcase. His room was slightly smaller than the girls, but it had a desk with a bookshelf full of opera librettos, blue walls, and less frills.

"Are you all content with your rooms?" she asked when it seemed that the Baudelaires were settled in. The three nodded in agreement. "Okay! I'll see you at dinner, then. The dining room is all the way downstairs, in the basement." She glanced briefly at the clock. "Oh! I'm late! Mam'selle said they were doing the Act Three dance sequence in ten minutes! I must go!"

Sophia dashed off, the tips of her Pointe shoes clunking against the long and seemingly endless marble staircase.

"I'm going to look around, Violet. Do you mind? I'd like to check out what our Aunt is like," Klaus said nonchalantly, his hands in his pockets.

"Um, of course. I need to help Sunny change into a nicer dress. This one has a nasty tear in the back." Violet replied absentmindedly as she started sewing the tear.


	2. O l i v e r and H e n r i e t t a

Chapter Two

Klaus finally reached the end of the marble staircase and through the same doors, he hoped, that Aunt Marguerite had gone through minutes before. What he saw as he made his way into a seat near the middle of the theatre surprised him. The ballerinas were onstage. They all had the same rehearsal outfit on, but Sophia's face was most prominent. She was smiling gaily out into the empty theater. Her movement was graceful, her face told a story. He hardly expected such a bouncy girl to convey so many… _things_ at the same time.

Next, his eyes went finally found Aunt Marguerite standing by the curtain, watching her dancers with a keen eye. Her face was blank as she clapped out the rhythm along with the full orchestra and yelled things in French to the girls onstage. But those blue eyes of hers; there was something in them that made her face look less stern, younger, softer.

It seemed that Sophia's eyes had found him as she winked at Klaus from her position onstage and did a few extra dance moves to show off. One of the unsmiling girls shot her a menacing glare, but she merely smiled sweetly and continued dancing, her bare and slender arms accentuating each movement she made on her tiptoes, each line of music coming from the orchestra.

"What in God's name were you thinking out there?" Henrietta Quick snapped once the girls skipped off into the wings. She was the quintessential fiery, hot-tempered red head and Henrietta knew it.

Sophia rolled her eyes. "Relax, I was just fooling around! I won't do it later tonight, I swear." She dramatically placed her hand to her heart.

Henrietta was fuming. She opened her mouth to say something, but instead stomped off into her private dressing room. The dark haired ballerina was about to let out a sigh of relief until the door suddenly opened again. "Sophia!" she screamed, "I'm twenty three. I'm getting too old for this job. I'll be retiring in a few years! Everyone's saying you're going to be the next Prima Ballerina, and I don't want my successor to act so foolishly even when rehearsing!" With that, she slammed the door.

"Oh, Lord," Sophia groaned, retying the pink ribbon around her neck. She slipped through the curtain and made her way into the auditorium, her sparkling brown eyes finding Klaus again.

Klaus stiffened when he saw her come out from one of the wings. He had only known this girl for less than half and hour and already she was making him uncomfortable. "Um, h-h-hi," he stammered, avoiding her gaze. "Y-y-you were g-great up there. I-I enjoyed it."

"You did, did you?" Sophia replied, leaning on the arm of his seat in the aisle. "I was hoping you'd come down and watch me sooner or later." She smirked. Her smile faded when she heard screaming and things breaking.

"W-what's happening?"

"Henrietta the ballet star is getting into a tiff with Mam'selle. It happens every opening night. She thinks she's the star of the show, that one. Has no idea that the people usually come to see the opera, not the dance."

"Why not?" he thought out loud. "Dancing is an art form too. I read up on that a bit before …" Klaus trailed off, not looking at her.

Sophia nodded solemnly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I read about you three in the newspaper. It's alright if you don't want to talk about it."

He swallowed hard, trying not to turn pink when she touched him.

"Sophia!" there was that sharp voice again. "Henrietta said-" Aunt Marguerite stopped short, seeing her talking to Klaus. "I shall see you all at dinner, correct?" Both nodded. "Sophia, would you kindly show the Baudelaires to the dining room?"

"Yes, of course."

By the time the two made their way to exit the theatre, Violet was nearing the bottom of the steps, Sunny in tow as usual. There was a soft knock at the entrance to the opera house. Her keen eyes spotted a dashing young man on the other side of the door. He seemed like he was looking for something...or someone.

The oldest Baudelaire put her younger sister down and slowly pulled open the door. "Um, can I help you with something?" she asked quietly.

"Yes, I'm looking for either a Marguerite or a Fortunato?" he asked, his voice deep and soothing. The young man smiled at her, but Violet was too smart to just fall for a charming face.

"If you just hold on one second, I can get-"

"Violet?" Sophia asked, appearing next to her, Klaus on her other side. "Who is this?"

"Good evening. My name is Oliver. Oliver Browne." He replied with a charismatic smile, winking at Sophia, who was turning pink in return. Klaus stiffened again and he shot Violet a look. He figured this was just out of envy, but he did not trust this Oliver one bit.

"Oliver Browne!" she exclaimed finally. "Right! Mam'selle was talking about you. You're here to direct the next show we're doing?" She looked him over, smiling to herself. "You look awfully young to be a director. When I first saw you I thought maybe you might be a tenor, or something. Or even a dancer. We haven't had a male dancer in years. I never pictured the director of our production of _La Boheme_ to be this young!"

"Oh. "He laughed once she was done speaking. "I've had much experience, believe me."

"Please enter," she replied with her usual sweet smile, stepping aside. "You can join us for dinner."


	3. S e n o r F o r t u n a t o

Chapter Three

"Tizzy!!" (Or "Twit!!") Sunny squealed to Sophia as Oliver stepped into the room. Violet shot her a glare, taking her hand as they all followed Sophia through a series of hallways. The Baudelaires watched at the two conversed animatedly; Sunny- annoyed, Klaus- furiously jealous, Violet- dubious.

"Here we are!" Sophia sang, swinging open a large dark wooden door, revealing a room the size of a reception hall with tables scattered around and a long banquet table in the middle. "The cook is probably still preparing, but you can sit at this table with me!"

"Oh, Mr. Browne," Senor Fortunato said in his thick Italian accent, once everyone had settled in. "You are very kind to direct our next production. This will be the one people will be talking about! I have only known you for five minutes, and I know you will bring glory back to the Glorious Gandillon Opera House! I have a feeling!" he yelled as he raised his glass for more wine, full of passion and fervor as he always was.

"What does he mean by that?" Violet asked Sophia, neatly placing her napkin in her lap. Klaus nodded, still shooting glances at Oliver, who was laughing and joking with the singing instructor.

She sighed, tucking a loose curly strand behind her ear. "This used to be the biggest, most extravagant theatre in all of New York City, and probably in all of New York State, as well. Senor Fortunato never forgets to tell that to any of the people staying at the dormitories. These dorms, they used to be filled with hopefuls, students, theatre legends, stars of the stage, everyone! Now… just look at this place. It's dying. There are only fifteen of us ballerinas, our star dancer's leaving. There are about thirty singers, only less than half of them with star-quality."

"That explains all the room you have," Violet muttered softly, not even stopping Sunny from crunching on a piece of burnt steak. "I don't mean to offend," she added quickly, "I was just…"

"No, I understand completely. I hope that this Mister Browne will breathe some life into this place," Sophia said finally, resting her elbow on the table before receiving a glare from Aunt Marguerite.

Klaus looked over the ballerina's saddened face. This place meant everything to her. Dancing meant everything to her. If those two things were taken away, what kind of person would she be? She would be lifeless. Far from the bright girl she was. He grabbed her hand, swallowing hard. "We'll try to help," he said quickly, before she could react.

Violet bit her tongue to stop herself from giggling, more out of surprise than anything else. She hadn't seen Klaus being this forward unless he was defending her or Sunny, who was babbling as Sophia looked up at Klaus. "Quiet you," Violet muttered, handing her little sister a plate of corn on the cob.

"Thanks," Sophia said, smiling sweetly at him.

"Yes, we are currently training a few of our students to both sing and dance," Aunt Marguerite's voice drifted over to their table, "my assistant Sophia, being one of them."

"Ah, yes," Oliver replied, smiling over at the girl, who looked up from her plate. "I met her at the door. You never said you were a young lady of many talents."

Sophia was blushing again. Klaus was jealous, but not entirely, because she was still holding his hand. "Well, I was... I mean, they were…"

"Articulate, Sophia," Aunt Marguerite said sternly.

She nodded. "Your words are too kind." She said simply, averting her gaze.

"You will sing for us sometime?" he asked, his gray eyes kind.

"Yes, of course."

"Can you believe it?" Sophia said, bursting into Klaus's room in full costume and makeup sans the Pointe shoes. "Mr. Browne saw me practicing with the other girls, and, oh! He's just so nice, and so kind and I really do think he knows what he's doing! Just hearing him talking to Mam'selle and Senor Fortunato!"

Klaus nodded, still getting over the shock of her suddenly appearing at his door. "Are we allowed to watch?" he asked, standing up from looking over one of the librettos on his bed.

"You want to watch _Carmen_?" she replied, but before he could respond, she was bouncing up and down. "This is great! Ohmigosh, I'm so nervous, but I really hope you like it. So, do you think Violet and Sunny want to watch, too? Let's go ask them!" Sophia was already grabbing his arm and dragging him to the next room. "Hey, do you want to come and watch? There's this balcony that no one uses unless we need extra lighting. But in this case, it's all free!"

"I'd like to see this," Violet said as she finished unpacking their things and putting them in the closet. "I've always wanted to see how professional sets are arranged and how you maneuver them. Technical things." She grinned. "What about you Sunny?"

"Cheels." She said, which meant, "Well, I have no choice, now do I?"

_Author's Note: Wow, I'm just really into this story right now! I've updated within a week! Yesssss! Anyway, thanks much to Emily, for that totally random review, and to Nny11! I'm glad that I've more than caught your attention! And that you've put me on your alert list! I hope you've enjoyed this chapter!_


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